Bush denies further war plans

It is Bush's first trip to Europe since the Iraqi conflict

US President George W Bush has denied reports that Washington is considering attacking Iran or Syria, shortly before he arrived in Poland on the start of a week-long diplomatic mission.

The US president also defended the recent conflict in Iraq, saying the military option was chosen after all diplomatic channels were exhausted.

Mr Bush said reports that the recent conflict in Iraq could be extended to its neighbours were "idle speculation".

"You know, this is pure speculation and we used force in Iraq after a long, long period of diplomacy," he said, in comments broadcast on Russian television.

The US president, who arrived in Poland on Friday on the first leg of a trip that will also take him to Russia, France and the Middle East, also said he had wanted a second resolution on Iraq but was blocked by the United Nations Security Council.

He said military action was the only way left for him to deal with a dangerous regime in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Critics who disputed that any findings would be made "must not be paying attention," he said.

'Non-confrontation'

BBC correspondent Nikolai Gorshkov says the Russian interviewer did not challenge Mr Bush on the issue of weapons of mass destruction, despite the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin had questioned the validity of any conflict in Iraq without locating such weapons.

However, the non-confrontation approach may be a sign of a warmer reception in Russia for Mr Bush when he arrives in the country to meet Mr Putin on Sunday.

This is Mr Bush's first trip to Europe since the Iraq war and the bitter trans-Atlantic debate that preceded it.

On the eve of his departure he said he wanted to set aside US "frustration and disappointment" over French opposition to the Iraq war.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says it is the most ambitious diplomatic adventure the president has ever undertaken.

'Moving forward'

It will begin in a very pointed way with Mr Bush's Poland visit, a country classed by his defence secretary as "new Europe", and where he is expected to thank the Polish Government for its support in Iraq.

He will also deliver a key speech on the future of transatlantic relations.

From there he goes to Russia for a meeting with Mr Putin in St Petersburg, and to join in ceremonies marking the historic city's 300th anniversary.

Mr Bush will then head to Evian in France for the G8 summit of leading industrialised nations, and, next Tuesday before the official end of the summit, he will head to the Middle East for the toughest work of his trip, including a meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.

At Evian, President Bush will be grouped with the main opponents of the Iraq war. Mr Putin will be there, and Mr Bush will hold face-to-face meetings with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

In an interview with foreign journalists on Thursday, President Bush insisted the Evian summit would not be a "confrontational meeting", but rather how all sides would "move forward".

But he also made clear his continued annoyance at President Chirac for leading opposition to a UN resolution that would have authorised military force against Iraq.